UNIT 13 - Personal and Professional Development: A Detailed Essay

This essay provides insights into personal and professional development through self-evaluation and skill enhancement. It analyzes approaches to self-managed learning, emphasizing their role in achieving individual and organizational goals. A SWOT analysis identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, guiding the creation of a personal and professional development plan (PDP). The plan focuses on improving skills, addressing work-based problems, enhancing communication styles, and employing effective time management strategies. The essay also underscores the importance of lifelong learning, benefiting both the individual and the organization by fostering leadership skills, boosting confidence, improving time management, and enhancing customer satisfaction. The revised PDP reflects the iterative nature of personal and professional growth.

UNIT 13 PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................3
LO1 (1.1, 1.2, 1.3).........................................................................................................4
TASK 1- ESSAY...........................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................4
BODY........................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................7
LO2...............................................................................................................................8
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................8
2.1 EVALUATE OWN CURRENT SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES AGAINST
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AND ORGANISATIONAL OBJECTIVES. . .8
2.3 IDENTIFY DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES TO MEET CURRENT AND
FUTURE DEFINED NEEDS...................................................................................11
LO3.............................................................................................................................13
TASK 3........................................................................................................................13
2.2, 2.4, 3.1 AND 3.2 – PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PLAN.......................................................................................................................13
3.3 CRITICAL REFLECTION..................................................................................17
3.4 REVISED PDP..................................................................................................18
LO4.............................................................................................................................19
TASK 4........................................................................................................................19
4.1 SOLUTIONS TO WORK-BASED PROBLEMS................................................19
4.2 COMMUNICATE IN A VARIETY OF STYLES AND APPROPRIATE MANNER
AT VARIOUS LEVELS............................................................................................20
4.3 EVALUATE AND USE EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES....22
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................23
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................24
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INTRODUCTION
This assignment will render better insights about the personal and professional
development by an evolution of own skills and capabilities. This self-evaluation and
learning process will help to achieve the goals and objectives. We will analyse the
approaches to self-managed learning that will help to improve the effectiveness of
individual which ultimately drives towards organisational goals. Through the SWOT
analysis, we will discover the prevailing strengths and weaknesses and will identify
the areas of improvement through designing and following a personal and
professional development plan. This will help to understand the importance of the
learning process that is an on-going process which enhances the skills and lays the
areas for self-improvement in daily life.
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LO1 (1.1, 1.2, 1.3)
TASK 1- ESSAY
INTRODUCTION
Self-managed learning is a series of actions that take place where individuals carry
out the assessment on him and aspire to become a better version. This self-
managed learning is based on the self-assessment without getting any assistance
from others and takes decisions according to the goals set. In this essay, the
approaches to self-managed learning will be undertaken that has become a part of
learning due to the learning experience at my workplace. In next part of the body, we
will devise some ways which will help in life-long learning in personal and
professional context and will evaluate the benefits of the few approaches from the
self-managed learning undertaken (Quintanilla and Wahl, 2015).
BODY
1.1 Evaluate approaches to self-managed learning
Through a variety of resources available an individual can enhance the knowledge
and skills through a self-directed learning process which will involve self-evaluation.
There are many approaches through which self-managed learning can be
undertaken which are as under:
Seminars
Through the shared experiences of the individuals at seminars and conferences, one
can learn a lot and can improve the knowledge to a better extent. Through this self-
managed learning approach, the managing skills and the confidence can be
managed and will help to gain better experience from the knowledge being shared.
This allows one individual to grow and prosper by learning through the experiences
of others and develop new skills and ideas (Pacleb and Bocarnea, 2016).
Observation
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This is the most vital approach that can inject in an individual a self-managed
learning. This is a quality that renders learning from mere observations. Through the
observation direct learning can take place and through this, the power and
leadership qualities can be enhanced. This can also render better decision making
and communication skills development that will also help one to analyse the
situations better. This approach helps in becoming a self-directed learner that will
help the individuals to analyse the situations better and then take decisions by
becoming a good manager,
Reading
This approach will help to gain better knowledge and theoretical knowledge through
the means of articles and journals that will render learning through different ideas
and theories. Through this approach, I can gain better skills that will help me to boost
my reading and understanding skills and will help me guide towards becoming a
better planner and decision maker. This best suits a leadership style that helps a
professional in a long run (Nagarajan and Edwards, 2015).
Conferences
Through this approach of self-managed learning, the confidence and the
presentation skills can be boosted up. These skills that can be used in the
organisational settings and will help in the empowerment of the organisation as well
as individuals.
Internet
This is one of the best source and approach to gain self-managed learning that
renders the vast amount of data. It also allows easy access to academic journals and
the articles through Google scholar and helps to access information through a
collection of divergent topics. It enables personal development as well as
professional development as it renders information and studies by different authors
which will help in better management studies and the risk management projects.
Social networks
Learning can take anywhere and it can come from anyone. Social networking sites
like My Space, Twitter and Facebook are those social networks that bring a wide
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community together and where the exchange and sharing of thoughts and ideas take
place. This helps in learning new things through the tagging, posting, commenting
and reviews that are common here on bulletin boards and forums (Harks, et al.
2014).
1.2 Propose ways in which lifelong learning in personal and professional
contexts could be encouraged
On being an assistant manager the decision-making abilities are necessary to be
evaluated so that the organisational goals can be achieved. For the same, I involve
myself in the following approaches that encourage the learning process in the
personal and professional context.
Planning
This is another vital way that can encourage the lifelong learning in the personal as
well as professional context as it will help to lay out the framework that defines the
right policies and the availability of resources that can help in better monitoring and
control of the limited resources. This will help to achieve the desired outcome and
inject better coordination between all the employees and workers of the workplace
(Hofseth, et al. 2017).
Self-evaluation
In order to achieve the organisational objectives, self-evaluation forms a vital part
which will encourage lifelong learning and will help to undertake corrective measures
on time. This process helps in identifying the decision-making skills and will help to
boost the confidence. This helps in discovering the areas of improvement and draw
out corrective measures that can be used in enhancing the performance and will
help to minimise the gap between the current and the desired standard of the quality
and management.
Internet
Through the vital content, available online and the videos that are available on the
internet will help me to gain better knowledge and theories that I can utilise in my
workplace to motivate and encourage team spirit in the team members. This will thus
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encourage me to keep myself updated with the current knowledge and trend so as to
ensure lifelong learning.
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1.3 Evaluate the benefits of self-managed learning to the individual and
organisation
The self-managed learning can render many benefits to an individual as well as an
organisation which can be understood from the following discussion:
BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEES
 Self-learning help to improve the leadership and communication skills that will
help to benefit the employees and this will draw them towards a new job title
and will help them to perform best (Goetsch and Davis, 2014).
 This helps in boosting the confidence level of the employees that helps to
achieve optimum out of the available resources rendering higher satisfaction
and efficiency to them.
 This helps in improving the time management skills which also injects in
employees through self-managed learning the innovative ideas that ensure
efficiencies.
BENEFITS FOR ORGANISATION
 The self-managed learning also render benefits to the organisation as it helps
in achievement of the desired goals and help to render better communication
and coordination within every staff member.
 This helps in render quality services that help to achieve the goals effectively.
 It also benefits an organisation as self-managed learning helps to better
understand the customers and provide the services qualitatively which helps
to achieve the customer satisfaction (Magee and Webb, 2015).
CONCLUSION
As a conclusion, it can be connoted that the personal and professional development
forms an essential part for every individual that must be emphasised through
employing several approaches of self-managed learning which can render many
benefits for an individual as well as for organisation as a whole in long run.
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LO2
TASK 2
2.1 EVALUATE OWN CURRENT SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES AGAINST
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AND ORGANISATIONAL OBJECTIVES
Every individual and organisation has a set standard that is important to be fulfilled
so as to achieve the organisational objectives. So the evaluation of own skills will be
carried out under which will help to rate and perform the skills audit against the
professional standards and objectives of the organisation.
SKILLS PROFESSIONAL
STANDARDS
5=STRONG
1= WEAK
CURRENT
EXAMPLE
WAYS TO
IMPROVISE
 Communication
skills 4 I have no stage
fear as recently I
presented
myself in a
seminar and I
was effectively
able to
communicate
and deliver the
information to
the people
The only area of
improvement
left is to control
my restlessness
while presenting
on stage
(McGrath, 2014)
 Leadership skills 5 I have recently
held an event at
an organisation
which depicted
I need to learn
to stay patient
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my effective
leadership skills
through effective
management
 Managing skills 5 I was able to
properly plan
and organise
the event at my
organisation
recently
I need to pre-
plan and lay
more focus on
the goals
 Presentation skills 3 While
presenting some
time my
confidence gets
shed down
which I recently
noticed while
presenting on
stage recently
(McConnell, et
al. 2015)
In order to boost
my confidence
while
presenting, I
have to attend
sessions and
classes
 Problem-solving 2 I have many a
time failed to
solve the
problems that
arise at a
workplace of my
colleagues
I have to be
analytical and
be focussed on
the effective
analysis of the
situations
 Teamwork and
collaboration 4 In the vents held The area of
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by me at an
organisation, I
was able to
considerably
demonstrate the
collaborative
skills and
effectively work
with the teams
improvement
left is to build
trust among the
people and
team members
 Self-management 4 I can effectively
manage myself
and handle
pressure
through effective
self-
management
I have to draw
timetable so as
to effectively
manage my
work
 Professional
Knowledge 2 In terms of
professional
knowledge, I
lack in skills and
language
commands
I should gain
classes and
training that will
render me
professional
knowledge
(Dolmans, et al.
2015)
 Time management 2 I face difficulty in
completing the
tasks on time
I will have to
regularly
maintain a diary
in order to
effectively
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manage the
time
2.3 IDENTIFY DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES TO MEET CURRENT AND
FUTURE DEFINED NEEDS
In order to identify and develop the opportunities that will help to meet the current
and the future defined needs SWOT analysis will be carried out that will draw out the
strengths and weaknesses and will lay out the various opportunities available that
can be converted to strengths and there are also some factors that are presently
known as threats that c=must be mitigated to reduce the weaknesses.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
 Communication skills are strong
and effective that helps to share
information effectively and avoid
misunderstandings with my co-
workers
 I am keen and dedicated towards
my work and I am goal oriented
 I am a highly optimistic person
and always explores the positive
vibes in every aspect
 I always get inspired by the
leader's experiences and work
towards the achievement of
targets
 I am a quick learner and is always
keen to learn new things
(Dolmans, et al. 2015)
 I sometimes face the introvert
issue as I feel shy to express my
ideas and views (Hamid, et al.
2015)
 Sometimes not responding on
time makes me regret later
 I am slow in decision making
 I become restless while presenting
on stage
 I sometimes lose my emotional
stability and loses my patience
level
 It then hinders healthy relations
with my co-workers
 I also lack analytical skills that
create problem in decision making
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